Review: Batman #29 - Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo
Wed, March 12, 2014 
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo bring out another fantastic issue of the current Batman arc, Zero Year. And to be honest, I haven't been paying much attention to comic book news since I stopped getting press packages from DC Comics suddenly, but I binged through Zero Year before #25 came out and got instantly hooked on the story. I never liked the idea of Zero Year, but it's excellently executed. It's not a cash-grab filler event to get Batman busy during Forever Evil and it's not an unnecessary replacement for other Batman origins. So now that the events of Zero Year and The Riddler's plans are finally being set in motion, what makes Batman #29 a must-buy comic?
First off, it starts off pretty emotional with a flashback to The Wayne Family when Bruce was a child and still with his parents. It's a sweet talk but it also slightly changes the events leading up to the murder of the Wayne Family which is again, flashed back to later in the comic. What I enjoy about this memory of Bruce Wayne's is that it's so important to the character, so you can't change it too much, however you can change some conditions without ruining some of the Batman mythology. In other words, that flashback is incredibly important not only to the Batman character as a whole, but this issue as well. This is Bruce in his first months as Batman taking on a threat that wants to destroy the entire city and completely has the means to do so. It pushes Bruce to the limit before he even gets a chance to prepare, and that's what I like about recent origin stories like Arkham Origins and Zero Year.
Batman #29 is an incredibly suspenseful and long issue. From the get-go, it's action-packed and Gordon is in a rush to secure sections of the city when he gets a call from Batman. This leads to both men being engaged in a race against time to stop The Riddler from executing his takeover of Gotham City, even though no one sort-of truly knows what it is. From attempting to get the jammer to disable Riddler's device to confronting Doctor Death, one of Batman's earliest attempts at heroism may be his greatest. In addition to that, Jim Gordon also plays a pretty important role in this story and the Zero Year arc as a whole, similarly yet so different from Frank Miller's famed Year One. To summarize, There's so many moments in Batman #29 that make your jaw drop and your heart race. The ending is a superb cliffhanger that will leave you hanging until #30. As always, the art department make this book look AMAZING. I have always been in love with Capullo's designs, and FCO Plascencia's colors. The other talent involved also help make this book look how good it is, and even if it wasn't a book about Batman, this would be one of DC's best-sellers.
I have little minor issues with this comic because it's just so damn well written and drawn. I kind of felt that this issue had a little bit too much fan-service such as the line "The Goddamn Batman" as well as a full-page panel that is reminisce of a previous and famous Batman work. I also found the Bat-Blimp slightly ridiculous, but thankfully it didn't last too long. Nothing in this comic is truly detrimental to the storyline and that's my true, honest opinion. Usually there's something in a Scott Snyder storyline that irks me to no end, but this arc has been pretty much perfect and widely cinematic in scope. Zero Year would make for a fantastic film; animated or live-action. If you're not busy, get off your ass and purchase this at your local comic shop or head over to Comixology now.
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